The Red Fox is a small mammal that is endemic to North America, a large part of Eurasia and some parts of Northern Africa. Its scientific name is Vulpes Vulpes which means Fox Fox as it is the most commonly found fox in the world. The fox is frequently mentioned in many cultural stories around the world and is often portrayed as a cunning animal. The following report will outline the habitat and adaptations of the Red Fox.
The Red Fox is distributed in the areas of North America, Eurasia and southern Australia. There have also been reports of fox populations living in northern Africa. The red fox is not native to Australia but was introduced in the 1850s for recreational fox hunting. The red fox is native in the northern parts of North American and one of the habitats of one of subspecies of the native foxes extended down to the Rocky Mountains in North-Western USA.
The Red Fox is also found in all parts of Europe and most of Asia, including Japan. As seen from the above image, the red fox can survive in almost any environment that humans can survive in with the exception of the hot, tropical regions along the equator, Southern Africa and South America. The Red Fox prefers habitats such as sparsely-settles hillsides that may contain marshes, streams or woodland. However, red foxes have adapted well to living in urban areas but only come out at night to avoid humans.
A fox can inhabit a territory of around 50 square kilometres but the home range can be as smaller has 11 square kilometres in area's where food is abundant. The home range would be dotted with dens that range in size. There is the main den in which the fox lives during winter, whilst birthing and when rearing young. Smaller dens are scattered around for emergencies and food storage.
Adaptations
Structural 1
One of the physical adaptations of the Red Fox are its long legs. The legs of a typical Red Fox is long compared to it's body length. This is seen in Figure One above. The long legs of a red fox allows it to chase prey as well as allowing it to run away from predators such as wolves, bears and coyotes . The red fox can reach at trotting speed of 6-13 km/h and the top speed of a red fox has been recorded as 72 km/h. This adaptation is helpful for the Red Fox as its speed allows it to out run its most common predator, Man.
The environmental adaptation that caused this adaptation is most likely the fact that being a small animal, (body length of around 82 - 110 cm), it was the prey of larger animals such as panthers, lynxes and other large carnivores. If this adaptation had not taken place, then the larger animal, which would be faster, would catch up and eat the fox. The long legs developed from the need to survive being chased by its natural predators.
Structural 2
Another adaptation of the Red Fox is its extremely long tail. the length of the a Fox's tail is usually a third of its total body length meaning that the tail can reach lengths of up to 37 cm. This tail is used in many ways by the fox. Firstly, it acts as a counter-balance for the fox as it runs and jumps. Without it the fox would not be able to balance. Secondly, the tail is used to provide warmth and insulation during winter as the fox does not hibernate. The red fox it often seen using its tail as a "blanket" or a "pillow" when it is sleeping in winter. Lastly, the tail is used to communicate with other fox's that are too far away to be heard.
Perhaps the environmental pressure that caused this out of proportion tail is that the size of the tail lengthened as the fox survived winter after winter. The bigger the tail, the more fur it had, which would mean that more warmth was found in the tail. Another reason could be that the as the fox's legs grew longer, the tail had to do the same to keep the animal balanced. Behavioral 1
An interesting behavioral adaptation that the fox had developed in order to survive is its ability to regurgitate food when running away from predators. The Red Fox, if it has just eaten a meal and is being chased by a predator, will regurgitate the contents of its stomach and effectively vomit out the food. This makes the fox lighter and more agile so that it can escape
An environmental pressure that caused this might have been that foxes, as stated above, are small animals with a proportionally smaller stomach. Therefore if the stomach is filled with food, the fox will increase significantly in weight and therefore not able to our run predators. This gave rise to the ability to vomit at the first sign of danger so that it can survive.
Behavioral 2
Another behavioral adaptation of the red fox is only coming out during the evening and twilight and sometimes being completely nocturnal in some parts of the world. Foxes that live near urban areas have developed into nocturnal animals because of the overwhelming amount of humans. The fox is hunted by humans for its fur and sometimes for food or just because it is a pest. So the foxes that have adapted to living in urban areas need to come out at night to avoid association with humans. This raises the chances of survival.
The environmental pressure of this adaptation is obvious and it is human interference. The fact that humans have developed into areas that were once the habitat of foxes means that the foxes have to learn to co-exist with human. This means that the less interaction with humans the better chances of surviving.
Physiological 1
A physiological adaptation found in the fox is not found in the other members of the Canidae. These are the cat-like characteristics that have are found in foxes, These include semi-retractable claws, thin canine teeth, fine sense of balance and vertical slit eyes. These all give the fox a better chance of survival since it can adapt to its surroundings in a cat-like manner. This is because the fox is only around the size of a medium sized cat. These physiological characteristics allow the fox to be more agile than a common canid but bigger and stronger than a domestic cat.
A possible environmental pressure that could have caused these cat-like features can be the size of the fox. As the fox is small, it can become prey of almost any animal that is bigger than it. These cat-like features can allow the fox to be more agile thus have a higher chance to survive. The semi-retractable claws means that the fox is not always clawing the ground like most other canids which means that the claws stay sharper for longer. The sense of balance allows the fox run and jump more dexterously than its predators. The vertically slit eyes are designed in such a way to allow for better night vision.
Red Fox
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The Red Fox is a small mammal that is endemic to North America, a large part of Eurasia and some parts of Northern Africa. Its scientific name is Vulpes Vulpes which means Fox Fox as it is the most commonly found fox in the world. The fox is frequently mentioned in many cultural stories around the world and is often portrayed as a cunning animal. The following report will outline the habitat and adaptations of the Red Fox.
Image from: http://shelledy.mesa.k12.co.us/staff/computerlab/images/CO_Mammals_red_fox.jpg
Habitat
The Red Fox is distributed in the areas of North America, Eurasia and southern Australia. There have also been reports of fox populations living in northern Africa. The red fox is not native to Australia but was introduced in the 1850s for recreational fox hunting. The red fox is native in the northern parts of North American and one of the habitats of one of subspecies of the native foxes extended down to the Rocky Mountains in North-Western USA.The Red Fox is also found in all parts of Europe and most of Asia, including Japan. As seen from the above image, the red fox can survive in almost any environment that humans can survive in with the exception of the hot, tropical regions along the equator, Southern Africa and South America. The Red Fox prefers habitats such as sparsely-settles hillsides that may contain marshes, streams or woodland. However, red foxes have adapted well to living in urban areas but only come out at night to avoid humans.
A fox can inhabit a territory of around 50 square kilometres but the home range can be as smaller has 11 square kilometres in area's where food is abundant. The home range would be dotted with dens that range in size. There is the main den in which the fox lives during winter, whilst birthing and when rearing young. Smaller dens are scattered around for emergencies and food storage.
Adaptations
Structural 1
One of the physical adaptations of the Red Fox are its long legs. The legs of a typical Red Fox is long compared to it's body length. This is seen in Figure One above. The long legs of a red fox allows it to chase prey as well as allowing it to run away from predators such as wolves, bears and coyotes . The red fox can reach at trotting speed of 6-13 km/h and the top speed of a red fox has been recorded as 72 km/h. This adaptation is helpful for the Red Fox as its speed allows it to out run its most common predator, Man.The environmental adaptation that caused this adaptation is most likely the fact that being a small animal, (body length of around 82 - 110 cm), it was the prey of larger animals such as panthers, lynxes and other large carnivores. If this adaptation had not taken place, then the larger animal, which would be faster, would catch up and eat the fox. The long legs developed from the need to survive being chased by its natural predators.
Structural 2
Another adaptation of the Red Fox is its extremely long tail. the length of the a Fox's tail is usually a third of its total body length meaning that the tail can reach lengths of up to 37 cm. This tail is used in many ways by the fox. Firstly, it acts as a counter-balance for the fox as it runs and jumps. Without it the fox would not be able to balance. Secondly, the tail is used to provide warmth and insulation during winter as the fox does not hibernate. The red fox it often seen using its tail as a "blanket" or a "pillow" when it is sleeping in winter. Lastly, the tail is used to communicate with other fox's that are too far away to be heard.Perhaps the environmental pressure that caused this out of proportion tail is that the size of the tail lengthened as the fox survived winter after winter. The bigger the tail, the more fur it had, which would mean that more warmth was found in the tail. Another reason could be that the as the fox's legs grew longer, the tail had to do the same to keep the animal balanced.
Behavioral 1
An interesting behavioral adaptation that the fox had developed in order to survive is its ability to regurgitate food when running away from predators. The Red Fox, if it has just eaten a meal and is being chased by a predator, will regurgitate the contents of its stomach and effectively vomit out the food. This makes the fox lighter and more agile so that it can escape
An environmental pressure that caused this might have been that foxes, as stated above, are small animals with a proportionally smaller stomach. Therefore if the stomach is filled with food, the fox will increase significantly in weight and therefore not able to our run predators. This gave rise to the ability to vomit at the first sign of danger so that it can survive.
Behavioral 2
Another behavioral adaptation of the red fox is only coming out during the evening and twilight and sometimes being completely nocturnal in some parts of the world. Foxes that live near urban areas have developed into nocturnal animals because of the overwhelming amount of humans. The fox is hunted by humans for its fur and sometimes for food or just because it is a pest. So the foxes that have adapted to living in urban areas need to come out at night to avoid association with humans. This raises the chances of survival.The environmental pressure of this adaptation is obvious and it is human interference. The fact that humans have developed into areas that were once the habitat of foxes means that the foxes have to learn to co-exist with human. This means that the less interaction with humans the better chances of surviving.
Physiological 1
A physiological adaptation found in the fox is not found in the other members of the Canidae. These are the cat-like characteristics that have are found in foxes, These include semi-retractable claws, thin canine teeth, fine sense of balance and vertical slit eyes. These all give the fox a better chance of survival since it can adapt to its surroundings in a cat-like manner. This is because the fox is only around the size of a medium sized cat. These physiological characteristics allow the fox to be more agile than a common canid but bigger and stronger than a domestic cat.A possible environmental pressure that could have caused these cat-like features can be the size of the fox. As the fox is small, it can become prey of almost any animal that is bigger than it. These cat-like features can allow the fox to be more agile thus have a higher chance to survive. The semi-retractable claws means that the fox is not always clawing the ground like most other canids which means that the claws stay sharper for longer. The sense of balance allows the fox run and jump more dexterously than its predators. The vertically slit eyes are designed in such a way to allow for better night vision.
Bibliography
Red Fox - Vulpes Vulpes (n.d.) retrieved 12 July 2010http://mynarskiforest.purrsia.com/ev3rdesc.htm
Wikipedia (2010) Red Fox Retrieved 12 July 2010
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Fox
WikiAnswers (2010) What adaptations does the red fox have to have to survive? Retrieved 12 July 2010
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_adaptations_does_the_red_fox_have_to_have_to_survive
Rosamond Gifford Zoo (2007) Red Fox Retrieved 12 July 2010
http://rosamondgiffordzoo.org/assets/uploads/animals/pdf/RedFox.pdf